Crown of Ascension
Twixt Zero and Infinity
SCORE: 7
Crown of Ascension presents us with his restrained version of chaos through his debut EP. Thanks to its contrasting nature, it doesn’t feel like he’s putting us in the middle of the vortex as much as he making us watch him meticulously conjure up a storm through pure catharsis.
Chaos is the purest expression of freedom. It is an unlimited outpour of unfiltered impulses that can end up building something new out of the rubble. Crown of Ascension presents us with his restrained version of chaos in a contrasting EP, full of clashing dynamics, allowing spaces for consistency to be present, only to be pierced through by rhythmic turmoil; it is more a state of tension before everything breaks instead of full-blown chaos. Crown of Ascension doesn’t put us in the middle of the vortex as much as he is making us watch him go through every step in order to get it started.
This is not the first project spawning from the mind of this seemingly tortured Englishman, but it is the first one in which he lets completely loose, and while it may not have the same engulfing effect as his main project -Vessel of Iniquity- it does show the musician’s versatility and ability to set different moods using the same resources. By comparison, Crown of Ascension is more focused on high frequencies and a straightforward, ephemeral delivery.
As it is the case with atmospheric black metal, the main focus does not lie on the riffs, rather than creating textures with the guitars and -sometimes- keyboards; if we remove the drums from Twixt, we pretty much end up with a black ambient album that could hold up on its own. Nonetheless, the drums are responsible for carrying the contrasting and chaotic nature, as they violently cut through the ambiance like gunshots, while everything around them remains motionless, floating with ethereal grace.
Even the piercing shrieks -as deranged as they are- don’t feel precisely harsh. They sound desperate but very distant, and the reverb they’re drenched in softens the raspiness that we would find in rawer projects. With the main focus being texture, it makes sense that the vocals are being used as another instrument. As far as I can tell, there are no discernible lyrics; these screams are conjuring up a storm through pure catharsis. It is exhausting to listen to, but with no words to guide us, that seems to be the intended effect.
There’s not much in sense of song structure, but oddly enough, the songs don’t sound like random noise either. The guitar parts, while simple, have a coherent flow and cadence, and even when we hear sudden keyboard smashes, like in the raging opening track, they sound restrained and planned, like if they were gently played instead of just pounded away; the production is also clear enough for us to be able to hear most of what’s going on even at is most saturated. In that sense, Crown of Ascension feels chaotic by design, but that does not take away from the fact that when these elements work, the results are unnervingly fantastic.
